6 Recent Instances Of NBC Screwing The Metaphorical Pooch

I’m lumping these two together because they’re so dumb they don’t deserve their own entries. Two serialized shows based on fifteen year-old properties that no one has really thought about is not a good way to reestablish relevance in this uber-competitive TV landscape. Hannibal was just announced, but given NBC’s track record, and the recent track record of network TV in adapting adult-oriented dramas, I’m cool with making its collapse a foregone conclusion.

I’m sure the streets of Los Angeles are brimming with clever pilots that may not appeal to everyone, but will appeal to someone and are worth taking a risk on. These weren’t two of them.

The Return of Fear Factor

I feel a bit like a broken record here, but this is another example of NBC throwing their hands up in the air when faced with creating some original entertainment. Fear Factor was stupid and borderline insulting the first time around. It was sadly, the highest-rated show in America for some time, but the novelty wore off, and people forgot about it. Enough time hasn’t passed for the novelty to grow back, so we’re left with shelved episodes of women drinking donkey jizz.

I love that shelving that episode was a last-minute decision. Did someone wake up the morning it was supposed to air and say, “Pull the plug, guys. Kill it. I woke up this morning and decided the donkey cum-guzzling might not be in good taste. It didn’t occur to me until I had my coffee.”